Abstract
This work is grounded in the literature on women in the academy and offers glimpses into four young women professors’ experiences in the field of educational leadership. We utilized reflective practice and interpersonal communication to create a dialogue centered on three qualitative research questions that allows a window into our lives. We share our dialogue around emergent themes, rather than as a transcript of our conversations, for impact and efficiency. These themes form the foundation for ideas for change. Strategies for success are outlined: one-on-one mentor matching for new women faculty and graduate students; mandatory financial support for travel and professional development; gender and cultural sensitivity training for all faculty; an annual review of workload expectations and review of productivity tied to merit raises; institutional efforts to equalize salaries between men and women faculty; on-campus child care options; a commitment to experiment with various course delivery options to help with the work–home balance; and the study of the traditional tenure clock. We conclude with words of encouragement for young women professors and with the goal of helping universities and other faculty understand what young women professors’ experiences are like, to encourage social and policy changes aimed toward improvement and greater inclusion.
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